US Natives organise to end homelessness and racism

Unsheltered indigenous people face institutionalised challenges in their fight for equality across the US.

A demonstrator holds a sign calling for an end to discrimination in Flagstaff, Arizona [Courtesy: Indigenous Action Media]

Dozens of homeless Native Americans and activists marched through the streets of Flagstaff, Arizona this week to call for an end to racist policing impacting their community.

Flagstaff is a quaint university city of about 70,000 people located among the historic landmarks of the US' Route 66 highway, and close to the border of the Navajo Nation, a semi-autonomous Native American territory.

The march ended in Heritage Square in the heart of Flagstaff's historic downtown, where many of the city's unsheltered population - and tourists - are found both in the warm summers and frigid winters.

Protesters called for a "homeless bill of rights", culturally based shelters, and rehabilitation centres funded by the Navajo Nation and other indigenous groups, as well as an end to police discrimination.
"Before 1492, no one was homeless on this land," Shane R, who declined to give his last name out of fear of reprisals, said in a statement to Al Jazeera.
More than 500 years after the arrival of Christopher Colombus and European colonialism in the Americas, indigenous peoples continue to suffer the repercussions.
At least eight unsheltered people died in Flagstaff in 2017 - some from exposure, some from sleeping near trains, according to local media.
If it weren't for institutionalised racism, the number would be closer to zero, community members say.
One of the deceased, 40-year-old Nicole Joe, was a Navajo woman allegedly beaten by her boyfriend on Christmas Eve and left outside to die.
According to weather records, the temperature in Flagstaff was well below freezing in the early hours of December 25.